As far as eCommerce is concerned, Black Friday is a “peak” day where eCommerce faces much higher than usual customer traffic and customer loyalty becomes one of the main strategies to increase sales. Daily website visits can be more than three times the average, revenue more than five times the average, and traffic, during peak hours and minutes, can increase more than ten times the average. In the past, these peaks have caused major problems and disruptions to the website, which consequently led to significant loss of revenue.

During 2021, holiday shopping in the U.S. recorded the strongest retail growth in twenty years, generating more than $20 billion on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

TIPS TO PREPARE

Following a study by Shopify that looked at sales made on both Cyber Monday and Black Friday, they saw that mobile transactions accounted for 71% of all sales, compared to 29% on desktops.

While it is true that a portion of customers still use their laptops to pay for their purchases and their mobile devices for browsing, the group of users who use only their mobile devices to make a transaction is growing.

On the other hand, we must not neglect logistics, which ensures that all orders reach their destination correctly. Fast shipping and easy returns are two weak (and key) points for the customer. Planning an organized and solid shipping plan during Black Friday and Cyber Monday is essential.

Finally, we must not forget the importance of marketing. Without a planned and clear strategy for Black Friday, you will not achieve your objectives, and even less so considering the dates when competition is relentless.

TOP RETENTION AND CUSTOMER LOYALTY STRATEGIES

Did you know that 69% of customers who have experienced a bad return experience would not buy from eCommerce again and that 67% review return policies before making a purchase?
before making a purchase?

According to research conducted by Sailthru, retaining and focusing on an existing customer costs 5 times less than acquiring a new one. It also indicates that the probability of selling to an existing customer is between 60% and 70%. While the probability of selling to a new one is drastically reduced, reaching 5% – 20%. In addition, 50% of loyal customers are more likely to try new products and spend 31% more than new buyers.

Therefore, we believe that focusing a great deal of effort and resources on retaining your customers will, in the long run, yield very positive results. So, here are some key strategies that can be very useful to start retaining your customers, as well as several recommendations.

1. Get to know your customers and find out what they need

According to recent estimates, 1 in 3 shoppers return what they buy during Black Friday, with approximately 30 million unwanted products being sent back to stores. Timlin, A. (2021).

Each of these processed returns are typically charged to the customer, and 45% of customers say that not having a free return policy is enough to discourage them from buying something. In fact, more than half (54%) of consumers indicated that they are unlikely to make a purchase from an online store that does not offer free returns. How many potential sales could you gain if you offered that advantage on your returns?

2. Be aware of your customers throughout the entire process (yes, including after-sales).

After-sales support is also an important part of the process, and the ability to easily return items is a key consideration for today’s digital customers. Websites that manage to create a seamless shopping experience for the user can extend Black Friday beyond one day, encouraging customers to return in the future.

3. Surprise your customers with extra benefits

For most eCommerce companies, the last two months have been all about preparing for one of the most important dates for online shopping. However, there is a less common and less
known as “Return Thursday”, where all returns throughout that day are free of charge. This avoids the loss of sales due to not offering free returns or exchanges, and also creates a good experience for the customer, who gets a good image of the brand and, consequently, increases the likelihood of retention.

Getting loyal customers for your eCommerce is by no means easy; in fact, it often takes months or years to motivate them enough to retain them over a long period of time.

If your process is too complicated or unfriendly to the customer, you are automatically inviting them to leave your site and immediately go to a competitor’s site. Customer retention is fueled by a simple return process that offers a wide variety of options for making changes.

Remember, it only takes one bad user experience to lose the customer indefinitely.